Thursday, September 30, 2010

This teeny, tiny, itsy, bitsy, little Pyrex coffee pot. I have never seen one so small! To give you an idea of how small it really is....

...here it is next to a small alarm clock and a lamp. Isn't it the cutest?

Since it has lovely little lucky clovers all over it, I thought it to be the perfect gift for our very own Erin, who started it all by coming up with the idea for this blog and gathering up the best collectors of all things Pyrex!

Erin, I know that you have been missing your thrifting time now that school has started, so I thrifted this for YOU! Shoot me an email with your address and I will send it to you!

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

When I first started collecting Pyrex, I purchased several pieces from eBay. It was a quick way (and expensive by the time that shipping was added in) to get some pieces. Now I have restrained myself to only looking for specific pieces. Usually these are things that I won't come across locally. One of the ones that I have been looking for showed up recently, and after a bit of a bidding battle, it is now mine.

This special piece, Blue Chip Week from April 1963 was on my short list of things to find.

The back of the piece says that the Charleroi Family Day was April 27, 1963. Now, I'm not sure exactly what this piece was for, but the factories here in my town (we're down to one now...) have company picnics during the spring or summer for employees and their families and celebrate the work of another year. My hunch is that this piece was for a company picnic type event. A company celebration.

Anyway, the blue color on this number 473 1 quart casserole is great, and the white design really pops. From the condition that it's in, I'm fairly certain that it spent it's life sitting put away on some kitchen shelf. It really shows no signs of having been used.

Yummy Pyrex about to be filled with a gourmet meal by your special somebody.

1. Hey hon. Do you feel like going thrifting today?

2. That blue Primary Colour bowl I saw you looking at on Etsy would really compliment your sultry green eyes. You should totally buy it.

3. I was helping Mildred Clarkson clean out her garage this afternoon and she had a whole box of Mod Dots bowls sitting there gathering dust. She wanted you to have them. Can you believe it?

4. I went to Goodwill on my lunch break and I bought this set of Butterprint dishes for you. They're still in the freakin' original box!

5. You bought three more Autumn Harvest casserole dishes without lids. Fantastic!

6. You've been out thrifting all day. You must be completely exhausted. I'll make dinner, right after I massage your feet.

7. I found out that my great uncle Waldorf left me in his will. I've got $50,000 coming my way. Let's go ebaying for Pyrex.

8. Nobody really understands your love of Pyrex the way I do.

9. Open your eyes! Look, I built an addition to the kitchen just to hold your marvelous Pyrex collection. I think some mid-century modern cabinets would be just the job to hold them. What do you think?

10. I thought I'd skip the whole Valentine's Day thing this year and just get you some vintage Pyrex instead.

This weekend was our fall citywide garage sale. We have one spring and fall. It's always a great day to search for fun vintage things. Not only was it the citywide garage sale, but there were two estate auctions in town this weekend. Now, my blog readers know that there is nothing that I love more than an estate auction. It is a great way to get some bargains and I have several friends that I've made at auctions, and we always chat while waiting for our items.

Between the three different activities, I managed to get a total of 11 different pieces of Pyrex. I spent just over $30 on everything in the photo above. My favorite pieces are the 8 inch lime green baker with the carrier, and the 8 inch round Desert Dawn Yellow baking dish (both in the right stack). There is a mint condition Primary yellow refrigerator dish between the two pieces. In the center of the top row are three of the little 080 personal casserole dishes - 2 pink and one lime. On the left is a 1 1/2 quart Early American casserole, a Spring Blossom casserole, and a turquoise snowflake divided dish. On the bottom row are two Sandalwood Cinderella bowls. With there being just the large bowl and the smallest one, I wonder if it might have originally been a chip and dip set and lost it's metal piece to hold them together. Does anybody know if Pyrex made a chip and dip set in Sandalwood?

Saturday, September 25, 2010

(Hi everyone, this is my first post. Please excuse my camera phone photos ~ a new camera has been chosen but hasn't been released just yet.)

We just got home from a week of vacation at the beach; however, it was a week with absolutely zero thrifting. No consignment or thrift shops, no yard sales, and no antiques stores. Oh, the shops were there, but this was a family vacation so we spent our time at the pool and beach.

Papa and I went to an antique mall after lunch our first day back. I was determined to come home with something Pyrex and toward the end of my shopping I came across these two little babies. They are lime green 080 individual casserole dishes and I found them in the same dealer booth where I found my 2.5 quart Daisy casserole dish. I'm starting to know which dealers have Pyrex regularly.

These will be perfect for individual apple crisps or meat loaves. The clerk wrapping my package suggested leftovers, but I had to laugh and tell her that I am past pretending that I will ever have enough leftovers to fill all the Pyrex I buy.

Today I'd like to share some pictures I took 2 years ago when I visited the Brimfield Antiques Show in Massachusets.
I'd never seen so much Pyrex in the same place. Some vendors had Pyrex only booths! Is that heaven or not?

I can spy the green New Dots bowl that I've been yearning for....

Sharing those pics with you just brought me back! It was an amazing experience and I hope to go back one of these days.

Dropping by to wish everyone a Happy Friday and Happy Fall!! Does anyone have any fun plans for the weekend?? Thrifting? Garage Saling? I don't have any big plans for the weekend. Probably won't do any thrifting at all. Hubs and I are going to South Carolina next weekend, so I'm saving my $$$ for that. I've already Googled a few thrift stores and antique shops in the area we are going, so maybe I'll get lucky and find some Pyrex and vintage kitchen items that I don't already have. Happy Pyrex hunting!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Hello everyone!! I'm Sharon, and yes, I'm addicted to collecting Pyrex. I've been collecting Pyrex for about a year. It all started rather innocently, but has become an addiction rather fast. I really do enjoy looking at everybody's collections on here, and on Flickr. My collection is not nearly as large as some who post here, I'm working on it. Most of my Pyrex has been found at thrift stores, and flea markets, although I have picked up a few pieces in antique stores. The most I've paid for a single piece is $15.00 (the one pictured). I think it was worth it, don't you? For me, part of the thrill in collecting Pyrex is the hunt. I get all giddy when I walk into a Goodwill or Salvation Army and see a lonely, unloved piece of Pyrex just sitting there begging me to take it home and love it.....LOL. Anyway, I hope to be doing more posting and sharing my Pyrex collection. Heck, I might even start a blog if I can get up the courage.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Well, that's a strange thing to say, isn't it! I've been car-less for 4 1/2 months while DH was working over 1100 miles away, and we only have one car. So, no Pyrex hunting for me, or shopping of any kind except for food and medicine, and that was only once every two weeks when a neighbor took me. DH is back, we are NOT going to move to Texas after all, and I hit the first thrift store today! I just kept saying to myself, "I've got car!" and grinned a secret grin to myself. I didn't find anything to write about, and I confess I wasn't really looking for Pyrex as the first item on my list, but the 1 & 1/2 Qt. Corning Ware pan (an early Just White) I was looking for wasn't there. Two weeks ago I broke one of mine in that size and I admit it - I cried. It was an old friend of over 30 years, after all! I had served my children food cooked in it from their toddler-hood through middle age, for goodness' sake, and began serving good food to grandchildren! It looked great, did its job superbly, and took the daily use like a champ. I gasp at the awful prices on EBay - not so much for the pots and pans, but the shipping prices. That's hard when you're retired. So, I will go off to the local thrift stores - I found a few by searching online yesterday, and hope that maybe, one day, I will find a twin to one of my favorite pans, and if I'm lucky, I'll find some pretty Pyrex to keep it company. Corning ware = great; Pyrex = great; Car to find the other two = Heaven!

I have been trying very hard recently to cut back on my thrifting as I am accumulating a LOT of stuff and one of the big decisions I have made is not to buy any more pyrex.

Well that didn't last very long ;-) Look at what I bought today...

A gorgeous big aqua snowflake casserole for $4!!!

And look!

It has a twin! I bought the first one a while back in the very same Op Shop and I'm pretty sure I paid around $12 for that one, hmmm, they obviously price by whatever mood they're in on the day. I want whoever priced today's casserole to price all my finds ;-)

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

You can spy the 444 Butterprint bowl on the left. I had a lot of blackberries, 4 kilos to be exact, so I made 14 jars (all sterilized and processed) and had some left over for a big 2 cups jar and a small fridgie full!

Delicious with butter on a toast!

Now for the butter dishes! Thank you SO much for all your delightful and helpful comments! I was able to re-arrange the cupboard when I was preparing for the jam. I had a lot of mason jars in it; so off to be filled with jam they went and I was able to keep all 7 in the cupboard with the Autumn Harvest one in front, just waiting for a big stick of butter!

Last year, a funky East Yorker and soon-to-be former Pyrex collector sold me these candy apple red bowls. Does anyone know anything about them? I love the shape. You don't see them too often at thrift stores. Is there a large size or a size in between the two I have?

The yard sale lady also sold me this little bowl, which I believe is Blue Horizon. Correct me if I'm wrong. I asked her if she would miss her Pyrex. She told me that she had to do some major decluttering, but I heard a little sigh as she put the bowls into a bag for me. They went to a good home.

I stumbled on to this blog not more than 3 days ago. Valerie emailed me and told me about this wonderful blog she and few of you Pyrex hoarders put together. I must say, I thought I was the only one who did some of the things I have been reading here. (oh and I read the entire blog Friday night and screamed and laughed and smiled so much) Hi my name is Sherry and I blog at Annies cupboards. I am a Pyrex hoarder. I am so happy to find you all. I just started collecting, but what a collection I have already. I currently ran out of cupboard space and have been hiding my Pyrex finds underneath dressers and my buffet table. Under my bed too. I have a very small kitchen and we are moving soon. I can almost see my Pyrex kitchen. (thanks to most of you on Flickr, I am so full of ideas)

I travel every year to different parts of the United States and I visit crafting friends and we all love to thrift. We hit up the local flea markets and thrift stores and some antique stores. I thrift locally but I really am not one to hit the flea markets and yard sales in my area. I have enough thrift stores available to keep me busy and stocked pretty good. I do collect other goodies but Pyrex is my favorite. When I was little I remember making cookies in the stacking bowl set my mother had. 3 years ago I was in an antique mall and I saw 3 sets of these bowls. Flash back to my childhood. They were all marked $55 each set. I passed on them. (stop looking at me like that) I then kicked myself and went back 7 days later. All 3 were gone. Yep and there is how it begun. Pyrexia struck. I started hitting up the thrift stores. I currently have every piece to that collection except the blue bowl. I have the blue bowl but its really in such bad shape. So I give those pieces to my cats. The cats have a few of those. Cause of course you have to find a use for those *ugly* ones right? I mean its still Pyrex.

I found this aqua yummy in the BOX last week. I never find anything in the box. Let alone a holder plus lid. I am seeing from most you talk about the numbers on the bottom of the pieces. I never thought about the numbers and their meanings. Now I know. Thank you and thank you Valerie for inviting me to this amazing blog. I enjoy seeing all of your collections and finds. The prices you pay are just Oh my gosh. AMAZING!

Saturday, September 18, 2010

I was excited to come across this 2.5l 475-B casserole dish (with it's lid!) at an estate auction today. I haven't even had a chance to clean it up yet! I still don't know if I like Homestead or not, but I wanted this piece because it was the first time that I had found a Homestead piece in brown. All of the Homestead pieces that I seem to come across are the blue ones. I don't know when the Homestead pattern was produced, but going by the brown and blue color scheme, I would make a guess that it was a 1980s pattern. I remember when I was little in the 1980s our house was decorated in brown and blue. Is the brown color more unusual than the blue, or do I just happen to find only the blue? Anyway, it has a small rust stain on it that I hope I can get out, but if not, it will be a great everyday piece for my investment of $2!

Friday, September 17, 2010

I have finally gotten into a rhythm with school, so I will hopefully be able to be a little more active in this space! I don't know how thrifting has been for you all but it has been really slow around here! I haven't found a single piece of Pyrex in almost a month! I'm going out tomorrow morning, hopefully that will change! :)

I haven't been finding any Pyrex but I have been using it! I do love using my Pyrex, it's just so pretty! Here are a few things I've been using it for:

Hi there! My name is Katie and I write a little blog called What I'm Making.... I've collected Pyrex in bits and pieces over the last few years, but it has recently developed into a full-blown obsession! I love hunting around through yard sales, thrift shops, antique stores and church fairs for Pyrex. I've included pictures of my 2 favorite pieces - the Zodiac casserole was a gift my mom received at her wedding shower (over 40 years ago!). A couple of years ago she was cleaning and was going to get rid of this gem! I grabbed it and it became the first piece of my collection :) The Spring Blossom casserole belonged to my aunt. Last Thanksgiving she arrived at my parent's house with it and I fawned over it so much she gave it to me for Christmas, along with a Snowflake divided casserole dish!My favorite lines are the Spring Blossom and Butterfly Gold, but I will grab other themes if I'm lucky enough to find them. I've added a bunch of pictures on my flickr of my quickly-growing collection -- I'm so glad to be a part of this blog!

Hello fellow Pyrexers! I'm Alyssa Bee at The Lemon Tree. I've been collecting Pyrex for a little less than a year, and am so excited to have stumbled across the Pyrex Collective! And even more excited to have the chance to contribute!!

My humble Pyrex collection keeps growing and growing! I've practically run out of extra space in my (apartment) kitchen cabinets to store all of the lovelies! Time to start putting Pyrex to use. Sure I've used some of my bowls to mix things, and I even made a delish spaghetti bake in a Butterprint dish (!!!).... I know these things are durable, it just usually makes me nervous to use them for their intended purposes. Anyway, I've been thinking about how nice my Autumn Harvest bowl would compliment the new fall season. So I put her on display!

So what's inside??? Vintage Cookbooks (all thrifted of course)!!!

"New Recipes for Good Eating" circa 1951

"Betty Crocker's Dinner for Two" circa 1958

And my personal favorite, the iconic "Fireside Cookbook" circa 1949. It's worth flipping through for the adorable illustrations alone. And the recipes are practically from another planet! Can someone tell me why there are eggs in all of the mixed drinks?!?

Welcome to Pyrex Collective I

There are more Pyrex lovers than this blog could accommodate, so we've created a second blog. Visit Pyrex Collective II and the newly minted Pyrex Collective III. If you'd like to be an author on PCIII, write me an email.